


Love, In a Nutshell

by Shinybug



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Acorn Feels (Tolkien), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, First Kiss, M/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 12:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22496122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinybug/pseuds/Shinybug
Summary: An evening visit, a gift, a home, and love.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Comments: 17
Kudos: 229





	Love, In a Nutshell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alexia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexia/gifts).



> For my beautiful friend on the occasion of our 25th Best Friendiversary. You are my forever home.

The knock on Bilbo’s chamber door surprised him, as it was after supper and he was already preparing for bed. He opened the door and found Thorin standing there, looking darkly beautiful and slightly uncomfortable.

“I really must break this habit of answering my door to dwarves while wearing my dressing gown,” Bilbo commented with eyebrows raised, cinching his belt a little tighter. To his bemusement, Thorin’s cheeks grew pink. 

“I apologize, Master Baggins. I shall come back tomorrow.”

“Oh nonsense,” Bilbo said with a wave of his hand. “I suppose I shouldn’t wear a dressing gown at all, if I truly wish not to put it on display for dwarves, since we are in Erebor after all, and any knock on my door is all but guaranteed to be a dwarf.”

Thorin looked away and made a sort of coughing sound, his cheeks turning very pink indeed.

“I meant--oh dear, I only meant that I should answer the door in my day clothes rather than my bed clothes, not that I should put those on display either, or some kind of undress--oh, bother.” Bilbo wrung his hands until he saw Thorin’s shoulders shaking and the laughter in his face that he was trying to hide. “Why don’t you come in, Thorin, before we both die of embarrassment.”

“Only if it is convenient for you,” Thorin said hesitantly, still smiling.

“It is always convenient to see you,” Bilbo replied simply, lest he say too much. “Can I offer you some wine?”

“Please.” Thorin wandered over to the fireplace and waited while Bilbo poured the wine.

When Bilbo brought the glass to him he realized that Thorin himself was dressed very informally. Not his bed clothes, to be sure, but a simple shirt and trousers like the ones he had worn on their journey.

“It is good to see you relaxed. I haven’t seen much of you lately, and when I do you always seem to be scowling.”

“It is my natural state,” Thorin said defensively.

“It most certainly is not,” Bilbo argued back. “I have seen all the expressions of your face in the time I have known you, and it’s true that you show your sternest face to most. But I have seen your face at rest, and it does not scowl. It is pensive and gentle, with just a hint of hope. You may choose not to show that to your subjects, but do not hide it from me.”

Thorin looked at the wine in his glass for a long while, then sipped it and hummed thoughtfully. “You see a great deal, Master Baggins.”

“I despair of you, Thorin. If we are friends then call me Bilbo, at least when we are alone. Just as you show me your true self.”

Thorin’s fleeting gaze was warm. “Bilbo.”

Bilbo felt that warmth in his belly, and tried to hide how flustered he felt. “So what did you wish to see me about?”

“As you say, we have not seen enough of each other for some time, and I wished to remedy that.” It seemed to Bilbo that Thorin would not quite meet his eyes as he said it, which Bilbo found odd.

“Well, if you wish to see me, you must first look at me,” he admonished gently. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all, I only…” Thorin trailed off and finally looked directly at Bilbo. “I only wondered if you are happy here in Erebor.”

Bilbo was quite taken aback, and blinked a few times. “Why, yes, I believe I am quite contented at the moment. My days are full with the royal library and all the restoration work there. I enjoy working with Ori, he is such a kind and intelligent lad. And then there are the kitchen stores that Bombur and I are laboring to replace.”

Thorin mulled that over. “You say you are contented at the moment, but I know that you must miss the place you left behind. You have no garden here to tend to, no village to call home.”

“Well,” said Bilbo slowly, his heart aching, “it is true that the Lonely Mountain is nothing like Hobbiton, but I am still part of a village, of sorts. I have grown to think of all of you as family. I will say that I don’t see myself here forever, as I would not wish to overstay my welcome, and there are eventually matters of business I will need to attend to back in the Shire, but for now--for this moment--I am happy to be here.”

There was a great deal that Bilbo could not say, for fear of losing what simple blessings he already had, so he bit his tongue on the subject. Friendship was not a thing to be taken lightly.

Thorin appeared conflicted and unsure of what to say. Bilbo placed a hand on his arm and Thorin did not shift away. “I suppose a moment is all I can be sure of, then,” Thorin finally said. “And I want you to know I am glad you stayed, after the battle.”

The ache in Bilbo’s chest deepened. “I would not have left your side for all the world, my friend. You were unconscious for so long, and I could not leave without saying goodbye. And then I could not leave until you were recovered. And now I cannot leave...I cannot,” he finished, flinching away from what he wanted most to say.

“Bilbo,” Thorin said softly, “I would have you stay with me as long as you desire.”

“With you?” Bilbo’s heart was beating so hard it hurt. “Or with the dwarves?”

Thorin touched Bilbo’s hand where it still rested on his arm. “With me.”

Bilbo nodded. “Oh, that’s. Oh.”

“I cannot offer you a garden,” Thorin continued, “but I can offer you a home.”

“Home is not a place,” Bilbo whispered.

“My heart is not a place,” said Thorin solemnly, reaching out to touch a curl at Bilbo’s cheek. “But you already live there.”

“Oh, Thorin, I--” Bilbo couldn’t find the right words, so he rested his hands on Thorin’s chest instead, feeling the beat of that great heart. He held Thorin’s gaze, wondering if he saw an invitation there or if he had misconstrued this conversation. Taking one of the biggest chances of his life, and remembering flying down a hillside with a contract clutched in his fist, he leaned upwards and tilted his head back, encouraging Thorin to take what was offered.

“Wait,” Thorin said, and Bilbo froze. “I’ve just remembered, I have a gift for you.”

He set down his wine and reached into a pouch he carried at his waist, then drew out a silver necklace that glinted in the firelight. Bilbo took it with trembling fingers. The chain looked strong and fine, and the pendant was a small rounded silver thing. When he lifted it closer he saw it was a tiny acorn, finely wrought with a delicate texture on its little cap. Bilbo looked up at Thorin, momentarily speechless.

“Gold is for wealth and status, but for all that it is beautiful it is also soft and malleable, bright but easily destroyed. Silver is harder, it can stand the test of time. Silver is for friendship. For love.” Thorin clasped the chain around his neck and his fingers lingered there. “Even in my madness I remembered the acorn you showed me that you had found and kept, that reminded you of home. I want you to know that you have a home here, for as long as you want it.”

Bilbo blinked away tears and took Thorin by the front of his tunic, pulling him down to Bilbo’s level. Thorin bent as easily as grass in a gentle wind, and met Bilbo’s mouth with his own. It was a soft, searching kiss, and Bilbo took just the tiniest taste of Thorin’s soft lips. Thorin moaned, a sound that Bilbo would never have expected from a king, no matter how humble he was in private.

“You taste like wine and honeycakes,” Bilbo whispered, and Thorin just gripped Bilbo harder, one hand around his neck and one on his waist, guiding him and tugging him closer.

“You could never know how much I have wanted this, and for how long,” Thorin murmured against Bilbo’s lips, the lightest tickle of sensation.

“I’ve wanted you since the moment you called me a grocer.”

Thorin laughed quietly and stroked Bilbo’s cheek with his thumb. “It was wrong of me to say that, but if it swayed your heart then I’m glad I said it.”

“It was infuriating, and I immediately felt more for you than I had for anyone else in a very long time, never mind that it was deep frustration. It was on the Carrock that I realized it had turned into love.”

“You love me?”

Bilbo pulled back to look him in the eye. “You ridiculous dwarf, what do you think this whole conversation has been about? You are the reason I am happy here, Thorin. I would be happy anywhere you are.”

Thorin smiled, a private grin that showed just a hint of teeth. Bilbo felt warm all over, and leaned in to kiss him again.

“It really is a lovely dressing gown,” Thorin said after they parted, running his fingers over the velvet lapel. “But I agree that you should take it off.”

Bilbo laughed. “I believe I like this lighter side of you.”

Thorin’s gaze was piercing. “I was not joking in the slightest.”

“Oh, I know,” Bilbo replied, opening his lips for a deeper kiss and reaching for his sash, his heart humming in his chest as he slipped the belt open. “I know you.” He pressed himself against Thorin’s chest and felt Thorin’s arms come around him, offering a safe space filled with love, familiar and new at the same time.

The little acorn clinked against a button on Thorin’s shirt, and Bilbo was home.


End file.
